Chapter 6: The Life-and-Death Struggle in the Jungle

The slender man seized an opportunity, suddenly darting out from beside the burly man, and thrusting a knife forward. The blade passed beneath the bow arm and with a fierce flick, it sent Han Chong's bow flying. At that moment, the burly man raised his knife and thrust it straight towards Han Chong's chest

When Han Chong sacrificed himself to collide with the enemy and rolled down the hillside in a tangle, he felt the world spinning around him, unable to rise for a long time, thinking that he was surely doomed. Unexpectedly, after a while, no one came to stab him with a knife. ... Struggling to prop himself up, he looked around—about a yard away, that strong man lay on his back, the arrow that had originally pierced his eye had broken in half during the roll, with the remaining half completely buried, having penetrated into his brain completely

Han Chong, unarmed, how could he possibly withstand two knife-wielding men, as he was about to be harmed by their blades

Zhang Fang tentatively asked: "Do you mean that you have handled it on your own?"

The two brothers shook their heads in unison: "These two fierce individuals must be runaway salt smugglers; if the authorities catch them, it will be the end. We... should better avoid causing trouble."

As Han Jun just nocked the second arrow, unexpectedly, that slender man suddenly abandoned the primary target, swung back fiercely with a knife, severing the arrow and sending Han Jun, along with his bow, tumbling down the hillside.

The Han brothers nodded vigorously in agreement with Qingyan.

The mountain path is narrow, with steep slopes on both sides. Without defeating Han Chong, it is impossible to harm Zhang Fang. Han Chong stands against the enemy, effectively fighting two opponents alone.

As Zhang Fang propped himself up with the sword sheath, struggling to rise, he heard heavy footsteps behind him. Turning his head, he saw a thin man only ten steps away from him.

Qing Yan always kept the heavy cloth pouch at her waist close at hand. Zhang Fang knew that it contained several round stones, some as large as pigeon eggs. He had previously been unable to fathom what Qing Yan intended to do with these stones, but soon she opened his eyes to a whole new world.

The slender man who had successfully ambushed grinned menacingly at Zhang Fang: "Now there are no obstacles in the way, kid, prepare to die!"

Liu Kuaile slowly raised the ring-headed knife, pointing the tip at Zhang Fang: "If you are not afraid of pain, then use your sword to take your own life; if you are afraid of pain, I can do it for you."

Another killer has also died, and he died even earlier

Zhang Fang, with a calm expression, said in a firm voice: "Before you die, can you tell me why you are pursuing me?"

The Han brothers exchanged a glance and nodded vigorously towards Zhang Fang.

The arrow was shot by Han Jun, and it was indeed accurate; however, the arrowhead was made of bone, and it was shot from a homemade soft bow, resulting in insufficient lethality. At such a close distance, it only managed to blind the strong man's left eye, failing to penetrate his brain and cause death

Liu Kuailei, filled with rage, laughed coldly: "Go ask in the underworld!" As his voice fell, he quickened his pace, leaped into the air using the momentum, and raised his blade high, striking down from above.

As the strong man thrust the ringed sword halfway, suddenly darkness enveloped him, a sharp pain struck at his heart, and his roar resembled that of a wounded beast—an arrow was embedded directly in his left eye. There was no blood, but the sight was terrifying.

The hunter and the prey are only ten steps apart, one is exhausted, the other is panting heavily, and both pairs of eyes are fixed in a fierce stare.

Zhang let go of his grip on his ribs and fled for his life, sweating profusely, his heart pounding like a drum, his feet feeling as heavy as lead. In this life and the last, it was the first time he had been chased with a knife; to say he was not afraid would be a lie. This was a lawless ancient time, in a desolate mountain wilderness, and he himself was an identity-less "black household". If he were killed, he could be buried anywhere, and who would he turn to for justice?

Four youths, whose average age is under fourteen, narrowly managed to eliminate two armed fugitives. Aside from Han Chong sustaining minor injuries, the others were unharmed. The four looked at each other, feeling both a sense of lingering fear and immense relief.

Han Chong's arrows are not very good, but the bow is made of very tough zhi wood. Although the strong man wields an iron knife, the ironworking technology of the Han Dynasty is generally poor, and an ordinary ring-headed knife may not be able to cut through hard wood. Han Chong swings his bow, which is as thick as an egg, and engages in combat with the strong man holding the ring-headed knife. For a while, the iron weapon surprisingly cannot do anything to the wooden stick.

The strong man was struck in the eye with an arrow, instantly losing his sense of direction. The blade that was originally aimed at Han Chong's chest instead slid past the outer side of his left arm, inflicting a wound on Han Chong's arm

In a life-and-death struggle, Han Chong disregarded the blood streaming from his arm, let out a furious roar, and lunged forward, crashing into the embrace of the burly man. The two of them tumbled down the hillside, entangled in each other's grasp.

Little did he expect that Liu Kuaile's skills were so remarkable, executing a mid-air pounce that fortuitously avoided the trap. Had it not been for an unexpectedly protruding branch, Zhang Fang would likely have suffered greatly, or even been injured. Fortunately, everything turned out to be a close call. This unidentified assassin... Zhang Fang leaned over to take a look at the bottom of the pit. In the dimly lit pit, a person lay horizontally, motionless, with a faint smell of blood wafting up, clearly indicating that he had already met his demise.

At this moment, Zhang Fang finally saw that the two men were holding straight, narrow single-edged knives, with blades of a bluish-gray color, their width resembling that of a sword, perfectly straight without any curves, and the ends of the knife handles featured a circular ring—this was precisely the typical Han-style ring-headed knife.

Qing Yan was the smallest among the four, and he was unarmed. In the eyes of the slender man, he was likely to be seen as someone needing protection, posing no threat whatsoever. However, he soon paid a painful price for this underestimation.

Zhang Fang gritted his teeth and struck his fists together with force: "Alright, then let's bury them. Remember, no one can speak of this matter."

As Zhang Fang was running, he suddenly tripped over a branch of weeds, causing him to lurch forward. However, at the moment of landing, he urgently performed a forward roll, narrowly avoiding the tragedy of his face hitting the ground

The strong man shouted as he struck several blows, yet they were surprisingly deflected by Han Chong with a blow from his bow arm. It is truly unexpected that this young master of the Han family possesses such remarkable skills

Liu Kuaile grinned menacingly: "You reckless brat... good! Let me tell you this." He stepped on the thick, soft mud and decaying leaves, making a rustling sound as he approached step by step

Only two corpses were searched, and apart from two ring-headed knives and dozens of five-zhu coins, there were no valuable clues.

Qing Yan reached into the bag and grabbed a handful of stones. With her palm open, she picked up a round stone with her other hand and threw it away. With this flying stone as the starting point, within a mere two to three seconds, Qing Yan's arm extended and retracted swiftly, throwing the five or six round stones in her hand with lightning speed. The speed was so fast that it seemed like an illusion; the fluidity of her movements bore a striking resemblance to the elegance of a dealer shuffling cards at a gambling table in later times, and it also resembled the skillful slicing technique of a Shanxi knife-cut noodle master.

In the midst of the scattered branches and leaves, Liu Kuaile let out a reluctant roar of anger, his entire body crashing sideways to the ground—at that moment, the earth suddenly split open, sending fragments of leaves and decayed mud flying. Liu Kuaile didn't even have time to scream, instantly sinking into the ground. With a brief, anguished cry, everything fell silent.

Zhang Fang gradually caught his breath and slowly drew his sword from its sheath. The shimmering blade of the sword contrasted sharply with the bluish-gray ringed dagger, and the tip of the sword pointed menacingly at his opponent: "I have never been cut by a blade... I do not know what it feels like to be afraid of pain. If you don't mind, you can tell me later."

The hail of stones struck densely against the face of the thin man, instantly causing swelling and bruising, with skin broken and blood flowing. The thin man cried out in pain, his body swaying, his feet stumbling, nearly falling down the slope.

After adjusting and eliminating negative emotions, the first thing Zhang Fang needs to do is to understand why these two individuals want to kill him

With a sharp clang of metal striking metal, Zhang Fang, young and weak, was caught off guard in battle. His arm holding the sword went numb, nearly causing him to lose grip and let it fly out of his hand, and he was also jolted backward, staggering.

The slender man shouted repeatedly, advancing step by step through the hail of bullets, while the cloth bag filled with stones was about to be seen. Seizing a moment to look back, he saw Zhang Fang's figure had already disappeared into the forest, and he immediately took off running in the opposite direction from Zhang Fang.

The slender man completely ignored his companion, and as soon as the obstacle was removed, he immediately brandished his knife and charged straight at Zhang Fang

Zhang Fang's arms still felt somewhat numb, and he could hardly lift them. Behind him, the Han brothers supported his body on either side. The quick-reacting Han Chong let out a furious shout, swung his bow to block, and with a loud clap, struck the blade, deflecting the long knife that the burly man had thrust at him.

Even though Zhang Fang had seen many dead bodies, even though this was a case of justifiable self-defense, even though he did not kill with his own hands... ultimately, it was a life that ended at his own hands. The feeling of his heart sinking like lead and the overwhelming urge to urinate made Zhang Fang tense all over, drenched in cold sweat, unable to move for a long time. It was not until he heard the calls of Qing Yan and Han Jun that he felt as if he had awakened from a nightmare, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, steadied his mind, and dragged his leaden feet towards the sound of their voices.

Zhang Fanggen did not have time to think about why these two individuals wanted to kill him; everything was driven by instinct. With one hand gripping the sword hilt and the other pressing the spring clip, he drew the sword from its sheath, barely managing to swing it in front of his chest just as the opponent's weapon struck.

In that moment, Zhang Fang exchanged a knowing glance with Qing Yan, nodded emphatically, and turned to run. Meanwhile, Qing Yan continuously attacked with flying stones. The slender man spread his fingers wide, using his palm to shield his face. Although the stones struck his palm and chest, causing unbearable pain, they were ultimately just flesh wounds and did not pose a fatal threat. This was also due to Qing Yan's small stature and frail physique, as the projectiles he threw were the least lethal flying stones. Had he used sharp weapons like flying daggers or concealed arrows, he would have easily incapacitated his opponent.

"Kid... no one... no one can outrun me, Liu Kuailei, so just accept your fate." The thin man, Liu Kuailei, wiped his face, mixing blood and sweat, making his already unattractive face look even more gruesome and filthy. In the dimly lit forest, he appeared even more terrifying and menacing. If it weren't for Zhang Fang's nerves being toughened by his profession, he would probably have already felt his legs go weak.

The slender man opened his swollen eyelids, spat out a mouthful of blood-stained phlegm mixed with blood and broken teeth, gritting his teeth as he pursued Zhang Fang's retreating figure

Zhang Fang looked up towards the direction from which he had come yesterday, taking a deep breath—an unexpected disaster, an unidentified assassin... Perhaps that car accident was not merely an act of God, but rather a premeditated man-made calamity

Qing Yan turned her head and shouted at Zhang Fang: "Run into the forest!"

"Put away the knife and the money. As for the corpse... should we report it to the authorities?" Zhang was not very clear about the legal situation during the Han Dynasty, so he inquired with the Han brothers.

Zhang Fang was struggling to breathe, seizing every opportunity to adjust his breathing, and was unable to respond at all

At that moment, Zhang Fang unexpectedly made a surprising move— with a clang, he sheathed his sword and said淡淡道: "In that case, you shall die." Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed a nearby protruding branch, bending it into a bow shape. With a fierce release, the branch snapped back like a soft stick, striking heavily against Liu Kuai's body in mid-air.

The slender man did not expect to be suddenly attacked and actually miss; this kid is too alert. Before he could strike again, the burly man behind him let out a roar, shook open the cloth bag, drew his knife, and charged past him, aiming at the unsteady Zhang Fang.

Zhang Fang raised his sleeve to wipe away the cold sweat trickling from his forehead, that was close! This risky maneuver finally paid off. As soon as Qing Yan instructed him to run into the woods, both of them had already thought of using traps to deal with the assassin, which was also the reason for Zhang Fang's decisive retreat. After all, the assassin's target was him, and he would not get entangled with Qing Yan; as long as they ran in different directions, there would be no problem. The situation developed just as Zhang Fang had anticipated. Zhang Fang's earlier stumble and fall were all calculated; he took advantage of the momentum from his forward roll to leap over the trap without leaving a trace, which led Liu Kuai's leg into the snare. After all, the assassin's target was him, and he would not get entangled with Qing Yan; as long as they ran in different directions, there would be no problem. The situation developed just as Zhang Fang had anticipated. Zhang Fang's earlier stumble and fall were all calculated; he took advantage of the momentum from his forward roll to leap over the trap without leaving a trace, which led Liu Kuai's leg into the snare.